December 2/01 12:57 pm - PacificSport Awards, Birthdays

Victoria - Dec. 1, 2001 - In a year when the words "cycling" and "Canadian" became synonymous, the PacificSport National Cycling Centre Awards honoured top performances from 2001 today, as voted by the riders themselves.

Local hero Roland Green won the Overall Elite Male award after a season where he became the first Canadian male to win both the World Championship title and the World Cup series title. And he was part of an awesome team that claimed the World Championships' first gold medal of the week, the Team Relay that also featured Ryder Hesjedal (Victoria), Chrissy Redden (Campbellville, ON) and Adam Coates (Regina, SK).

Hesjedal won the Overall U23 Award for his silver medal at the World Championships in Espoir, silver at the Mont Ste. Anne World cup and fifth place at the Grouse World Cup. Redden, who took the World Cup at Mont Ste. Anne and silver at Grouse, shared the Overall Elite women's award with Alison Sydor (Victoria), who pulled off a silver at the World Championships and placed 8th overall in the World Cup Series.

There are over 50 full-time athletes in the PacificSport National Cycling Centre, one of six national training centres (athletics, rowing, rugby, swimming, triathlon), one national training group (canoe/kayak) and six regional training centres (badminton, curling, diving, field hockey, synchronized swimming, tennis).

The PacificSport Group is the BC Network of National & Regional Sport Centres committed to world-class athlete services, coaching excellence and long-term sport development. PacificSport includes National centres in Victoria and Vancouver and regional centres serving Vancouver Island (Nanaimo), Fraser Valley (Abbotsford), Interior BC (Kamloops) and Northern BC (Prince George), along with affiliated regional programs in the Okanagan. The two centres in Victoria and Vancouver are part of the National Sport Centre Network that includes Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary.